Plate 160
Havell XVII
Mourning Dove
(Zenaidura macroura)
In this painting Audubon attempted, as he wrote, to give “a faithful representation of the two as gentle pairs of Turtles [doves] as ever cooed their loves in the green woods. I have placed them on a branch of Stuartia, which you see ornamented with a profusion of white blossoms, emblematic of purity and chastity.” The painting was probably done about 1825 in Louisiana. The pair of birds at bottom was apparently done first; the topmost bird may have been the last addition Audubon made to the painting, since the limb on which it sits is not connected to the branch on which its mate is perched. The silky-camellia, or Virginia-Stewartia (Stewartia malachodendron), is a member of the tea family.
Source: The Original Water-Color Paintings by John James Audubon. Copyright 1966 by American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc.
Learn more about this print on the National Audubon Society's website.